


Hair

by DianaandAlicia



Series: The Otto-Clarks [6]
Category: Fear the Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Bullying, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2019-05-23 22:10:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14942268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DianaandAlicia/pseuds/DianaandAlicia
Summary: Alicia wants to find a way to help after Althea is bullied at school





	Hair

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MeteoraWrites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeteoraWrites/gifts).



> Howdy y'all! Sorry I've been gone for so long!

Troy pulled up to Alicia’s school and parked in his normal parking spot. It was almost the end of the school day and he had come to get her. Usually, Alicia rides the bus after school but today, he had to take her to the mall. Easter was coming up and Alicia needed a new dress.

Soon, school let out and he saw Alicia emerge from the building after a few minutes. She was standing by the bike racks, waiting for her friends. Since Luciana, Althea and Gretchen take the bus after school, Troy knew that Alicia had said goodbye to them in the classroom. 

Diana and Ofelia however got picked up by their parents at the end of the day. This meant that the three could congregate at the bike stand until it was time to go. Troy knew that Alicia saw his truck and knew that he was there, he just wanted to give her some time to say good bye to her friends.

It’s a good thing he waited because while Ofelia, Diana and Alicia stood there, Althea ran out of the school crying. She was holding the back of her head, and Troy saw Mel and Ennis, two brothers that liked to bully, running around Al, taunting her and holding something out of her reach.

Troy instantly got out of the truck and made his way over to where the girls were. Althea was crying her eyes out, Alicia and Diana were hugging her and trying to comfort her, and Ofelia had run along the line of cars parked at the curb, looking for her dad.

Once Troy got over by the kids, he realized how bad this situation was. Mel was holding a green hair ribbon out of Al’s reach, and Ennis was holding Althea’s ponytail.

Althea had long hair, almost down to her butt. Troy obviously didn’t know the whole situation, but it looks like one of the boys chopped her ponytail off. Her hair was now extremely short, since it was snipped just above where the hair ribbon was tied. 

Daniel Salazar, Ofelia’s dad, came running up. When he saw how serious the situation was, he went to go get one of the teachers that helped with dismissal. By this time, Diana’s mom had arrived, and it wasn’t long until Mel and Ennis were being hauled off to the principal’s office. Troy offered to come with, since Al had to go to the principal’s office too. Even though he wasn’t her legal guardian, Troy and his husband Nick were listed as a second emergency contact number in Althea’s records because they were good friends with her parents.

Althea was inconsolable and Troy could tell that Alicia was trying to keep her calm but it wasn’t working. He quickly called Al’s house to let the babysitter know that Althea was with him and wouldn’t be on the bus when it went by her stop. He’d bring her home when they were done here.

“Ennis, Mel, why would you cut Althea’s hair?” The principal asked, sick of this. Mel was in second grade and Ennis was in fourth. They spent a lot of time in her office.

“She’s trailer trash. She doesn’t need long hair.” Ennis said, giving Althea a look of disgust.

Troy frowned at that. Sure, Althea lived in the trailer park a few miles from the school, but she wasn’t trailer trash. Her mother worked all the time, in a factory during the weekdays and at a grocery store as a cashier on the weekends. Her other parent, who also isn’t around as much, works third shift in a different factory on the weekdays, and on the weekends, they work a six-hour shift as a stocker in a grocery store. Althea’s family is a blue-collar family and Troy believes that it’s nothing to be ashamed of. 

There were a lot of negative stereotypes associated with the trailer park and its residents in their community, especially at the school, but Nick and Troy always found Althea clean, well mannered, and a good friend to Alicia. The little girl can’t help where she lives, and Ennis and Mel were acting like it’s her fault.

Being called “trailer trash” was the boiling point for Althea. Sobs wracked her body once Ennis said that, and Troy knew that they needed to go. He told the principal he’d talk to Al’s parents and they could set up a meeting on a different day. 

He took Althea home and after explaining what happened to the babysitter, he let Alicia say goodbye. He smiled as the two hugged, and all the while, Alicia was consoling her friend, patting her on the back, telling her that it’s gonna be ok.

After leaving Al’s house, Troy drove to the mall with Alicia. Just by the look on her face he could tell she was thinking very hard about something.

“Troy?” 

“Yes Doodle?”

“Can I cut my hair so it can be made into a wig for Al? She’s sad that she doesn’t have her long hair anymore.”

“No Sweetie, you cannot cut your hair. Althea’s hair will grow back. It may take some time, but it’ll grow.”

“She’s afraid people are gonna call her a boy.”

When Troy heard that, he felt really bad for Althea. They knew firsthand how it felt. Alicia sometimes had issues with kids because her brother was married to a man. Althea had a parent who was non-binary and she also lived in the trailer park. This haircut might add fuel to the bullies' fire.

“Well as Althea’s friend, what are you going to do if someone teases her?”

“Me, Diana, Luciana, Ofelia and Gretchen are gonna stick up for Al.” Alicia said, nodding her head once she said it.

Troy nodded in agreement. “All you need to do is be there for Althea. Being a good friend and being there for someone is sometimes the best thing. If Althea knows that she’s got her five best friends by her side, she’ll be able to get through this.”

Alicia nodded and waited patiently as Troy pulled into the mall’s parking lot. He helped Alicia out of her booster seat and the two held hands as they went into the mall.

After twenty minutes they found a dress that Nick would also think was cute and they were starting to go back to the car. On the way to the exit, they passed by Claire’s and Alicia stopped short.

“Troy?”

“Yeah Doodle Bug?”

“Can we get those hair clips for Althea? So she isn’t self-conscience? I can pay you back from my piggy bank money when we get home.”

“No need for that Alicia. You can get the clips for Althea.” Troy said, walking with Alicia into the store. He wasn’t going to have Alicia pay him back because it warmed his heart over how empathetic and kind hearted his little girl was. Alicia deeply cared about Althea’s feelings and insecurities and was wanting to find some way to make it better.

After the two paid for the hair clips, they went home and Troy explained everything to Nick before calling Al’s parents and talking to her mother. According to Al’s mom, Althea was doing much better than this afternoon and they were trying to come up with positives of having short hair. The parents let Althea and Alicia talk for a while before promising each other that they’d be at school the next day.

The next day, Nick dropped Alicia off at school and watched as she walked over to Althea and gave the girl the package of hair clips. It put a smile on his face when he saw Althea light up with glee and give Alicia a bone crushing hug. The two girls held hands as they walked into the school and Nick nodded to himself. With a friend like his sister, Althea was going to be just fine.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope y'all liked it!


End file.
